Underground
by That One Rhombus
Summary: Gustavo is a man struggling to keep his son, Lorenzo, after his divorce. After being legally forced to give him back to his ex-wife, the two travel through the New York subway, sharing a last conversation together. Those last moments are interrupted by the thundering boom of a nuke above ground. They are trapped with their fellow passengers, abandoned and forgotten, underground.
1. Swear

**DISCLAIMER**

 **Yes… I understand it's been a while. Life is stressful, to say the least. Education gets in the way, then work sends you more shit to do, and then it just seems people around me can't seem to stop dying. I sincerely apologize, but I've also hit a sort of wall that would give Donald Trump a run for his money. So… in order to make up for this, I'm republishing Underground so that it makes a little more sense (Meaning less typos that went unnoticed). I will also work on other projects at the same time, and then most likely disappear for another few months. Until next time.**

CHAPTER 1: SWEAR

"You have absolutely no right to do this, whatsoever!"

"He can't live with you, Gustavo. You're not fit to be his father."

"I sure as hell was more of a parent to him than you! You already took the house, the car, and all the fucking money! Now you wanna take the only flesh and blood I have? It's bullshit!"

"You just made my point! You don't have a house. You have an apartment! You don't have a car. You have subway tokens! You don't have money. You're the manager of a fucking Slocum's Joe! You are completely unable to raise Lorenzo anymore."

"Whose fault is that, huh? Who took all my shit and left me high and dry? Was it me? Was it Lorenzo? Was it Jangles the fucking Moon Monkey?! No! It was you, Mari!"

"Do I need to remind you why we got a divorce in the first place?"

"Because you're a paranoid bitch that doesn't understand boundaries and privacy?"

"Because there shouldn't have been anything private between us, Gustavo!"

"So you went ahead and made the assumption that I cheated."

"I didn't need to assume until Sherry told me what she saw!"

"Sherry's a cunt! She never liked me to begin with! Of course she would stir the pot and make us divorce if that meant I was out of your life! I swear I think she's trying to get you all to herself. I'm telling you, she might be a lesbian!"

"First, she wouldn't do that. Second, she isn't one. And third, who the fuck do you think you are to call my friend a cunt?!"

"I think I'm what you made me to be; your ex-husband and the father of the child I took care of for eleven fucking years! Not only do I no longer have to care about what you think anymore, I don't have to try and be nice to any of your friends either! I fucking hate all of your friends! They are all either absolute douchebags or larger-than-life retarded bitches, but none of them, and I mean NONE of them top Sherry Alwin and her best friend, Mariana Bosun!

"Lorenzo is _my_ son, not yours! I raised him to who he is today while you were out on your fucking 'business trips!' I gave up the opportunity to actually help people in need just to try and keep this family together, only for me to realize that there is no family to keep together! I'm taking him, I'm keeping him, I'm raising him, and I'm gonna do the best goddamn job of it anyone has ever seen! I'll fucking show you how much better of a parent I am than you!"

"So that's what it is? Proving me wrong? Well, you can't even do that."

"And why is that?"

"Because you are legally obligated to bring Lorenzo to me. He is, and always will be, _my_ son... not yours."

"You know... with the utmost sincerity, go fuck yourself."

"I want Lorenzo here in Albany by the end of today or I'm calling the police and forcing you to give him to me. Are we clear?"

Silence. Pure rage seethed through Gustavo as he was listening to Mariana basically threaten him.

"Gustavo, are we clear?"

"Like fucking crystal."

Gustavo slammed the phone down, hanging it up and cracking the handle in the process. He looked around the small apartment, comprised of only four different rooms. The living room merged into the kitchen, which merged into the entrance and the hallway. In that hallway was three doors that led to a bedroom, a closet, and a bathroom coated in mildew, somehow clinging to life.

He walked to a torn leather couch stationed in front of a coffee table and a cheap television. He didn't bother to put his feet up or look for the remote, not showing an ounce of effort. Instead, he looked down at his carpet, silent. Placing his hands on his face, he broke that silence with a sniffle. His eyes had begun to water as the palms of his hands did their best to rub the tears out of existence. There was no stopping it though, as the tears cascaded down his face like water in a storm drain.

"No... no... oh, no... come on, please..." Gustavo begged himself that this wasn't happening as his voice broke. He kept thinking, _How could you let something like this happen? How, dammit?!_ Gustavo felt like a failure, having been brought down to such a level by a woman who believed her "best friend" instead of her own loving husband. His eyes had gone red from the rubbing, looking red enough to be bloodshot. At this point, what he looked like didn't matter to him, but it would matter to Lorenzo.

Gustavo didn't want his son to see him like this. Odds are he overheard the entire argument between his parents. It was only a matter of time before he would come into the living room to check on his father. Gustavo heard small, quiet footsteps behind him and pulled his head out of his hands, looking directly at the black television screen, which in turn gave off a dark, foggy reflection.

"Dad? Are you okay?" Lorenzo had asked.

Taking one last big sniff of air as he wiped a single teardrop from his cheek, Gustavo replied, "Yeah. I'm okay. I just need to relax for a little bit, you know?" Gustavo didn't turn his head once to face Lorenzo. He wanted his son to see him as a man who's always rough and tough and never takes shit from anyone. In reality, he wasn't any of those things. He was just a man. In his mind, barely that.

"Hey, Lorenzo, uh..."

"Yeah, Dad? What is it?"

"It's your mom, kiddo. We're gonna go visit her a little later today."

"We're visiting Mom today?"

"Yeah, so pack up, alright?"

"Pack up? Am I sleeping over there?"

"I'll tell you in a little bit, okay? Come on, pack up your stuff; clothes, toothbrush, games, anything. If you can fit it in your suitcase, put it in, but the stuff you need first. Then put anything you can fit in there."

"I know how to pack my bags, Dad."

"Are you sure? Last time I told you to pack, your suitcase consisted of ninety percent games, a toothbrush, and two sets of clothes. You didn't even bother to pack any underwear and we were going to be gone for the whole weekend."

"This time will be different, I swear."

After hearing Lorenzo walk off and close the door to his room, Gustavo placed his face in his hands once more, only this time he just kept breathing in and out sharply. He tried his damnedest to hold back the tears from flowing once more, but couldn't help the urge to do so. The thought of today being the last day he might ever be a true father to his son was devastating to even acknowledge. Nonetheless, he knew that it was going to happen at some point. He just didn't know when... and was happier not knowing.

As Lorenzo was packing his bag with the few t-shirts and jeans he had, he thought back to his father. His voice said nothing was wrong and that everything was fine, but his reflection in the television said otherwise. He constantly thought he was the reason his mom and dad were apart, and kept thinking how life would have been different if they weren't burdened with him. When him and Gustavo left Albany for Brooklyn in June, he knew that he wouldn't be coming back for a while, and wondered if he would be coming back at all. Now it's October, and about a little over a week before Halloween; the 23rd. Lorenzo missed his friends, and now he's getting the opportunity to hang out with them again, especially on Halloween. With his parents always arguing, his friends became more of a family to him than his own family. At least they would listen to him more than his own parents.

He kept thinking, and as he was, he realized that all his clothes were packed in his suitcase, and there was still a little room left for some of his favorite things. Above all, the first thing that had to go in was his favorite Grognak the Barbarian issue, "Cometh the Trickster". No matter what the other kids at school said, it was still the best in Lorenzo's opinion.

Second was a prize that came from one of his dad's RobCo magazines; Grognak and the Ruby Ruins. Lorenzo never got the chance to play it at home, though. His family could never afford a terminal to play it on, but he always snuck it into school to play during environmental science. It would explain how on his latest test, under "Name the three types of rocks," he wrote Igneous, Ruby, and Grelok. It would also explain the resounding "F" Lorenzo received in that class.

The final thing that absolutely had to go in the suitcase was his ProSnap camera. Lorenzo had owned this for so long it would be a horrible thing to part with it. Ever since he was in preschool, Lorenzo wanted to remember anything and everything around him, but the beautiful views and great friends he made over the years often faded away. For Lorenzo's eighth birthday, his parents got him the camera, which was a rather expensive camera at the time at an upwards of one hundred fifty dollars, so that he could remember everything awesome about life. Ever since, Lorenzo had taken the camera on every trip the family ever went on, as well as a couple of days during the school year. The other boys made fun of him for bringing his camera, saying that it was stupid to take pictures of the things he'll see again next year. Ironically, those boys were not part of the things Lorenzo would see again next year, as they were held back for "forgetting" to do their work.

Lorenzo zipped up the suitcase and took one last look around the room he'd been sleeping in for the last few months. It was strange sharing a room with his dad, but also kind of a refreshing experience. He was isolated in his room a lot since he got a new portable transistor radio with a pair of headphones for his tenth birthday, but sharing a room with his father became more... comfortable, in a way. The two got to talk more about things outside of family stuff, like Lorenzo's friends, Gustavo's job, and even politics at some points. Their conversations would never go to full-blown arguments, unlike with Mariana. Whenever Lorenzo tried to talk about anything controversial with his mom, she would either dismiss the topic immediately, or go into full detail how Lorenzo's point of view was wrong and her's was right. Every attempt at communication Lorenzo would make being shut down, which led to Lorenzo getting upset with her and saying, "Will you let me speak for once?!" Safe to say, this didn't relatively end well for him.

Lorenzo knew that he wasn't just staying the night. Or the week. Or even the month. If he was going to Albany, he was going to stay there for good. He'd no longer have those intimate conversations with his dad. He'd never again eat bacon and eggs and laugh at the small kitchen table. He wouldn't communicate in the house at all, except when trying to get his radio to work by constantly mumbling, "Come on, now." These past four months would be made non-existent if he were to go back to Albany to live with his mom. The heartbreaking thing is he had no control over what happened. The tragic thing is that he knew he would never have a say in it.

As Lorenzo was packing his bag, Gustavo was hanging over the kitchen sink. Grainy tap water dripped down from his nose and bottom lip. His eyes burned up from him vigorously rubbing them to the point of nearly breaking the skin on his eyelids.

"Come on, Gus," he mumbled to himself. "Get a grip. Be a man. For him. You'll see him again after this. This isn't..." Another sharp breath escaped from Gustavo's lungs as he held back more tears from his already irritated eyes. "This isn't goodbye. Okay? It isn't."

Within the deep recesses of his mind, Gustavo knew this was the last time he'd ever see his son again. Mariana would try, in all her power, to prevent Lorenzo from ever having to be bothered by his "incapable father" ever again. Hell, Sherry might help her get a restraining order against Gustavo just for the fun of fucking him over more.

 _No!_ Gustavo thought. _Pull yourself together! You won't let that happen... You won't._

Wiping his face one last time, Gustavo called out to Lorenzo, asking if he had finished packing his bag.

"Yeah! Just grabbing the last few things!" Gustavo knew what that meant; his portable radio and headphones. It was Gustavo who bought that for Lorenzo, and he'd regret it ever since. It helped him concentrate on his work, but he was also tuned out by The Ink Spots and Roy Brown more than his own ex-wife. Still, whenever Lorenzo had it, he seemed to be enjoying himself. That was all that mattered.

Unsurprisingly, Lorenzo came out of his room with his suitcase in his hand, his portable radio in his pocket, and his headphones around his neck, much to his father's dismay. Lorenzo noticed this, giving a sort of, "I know what you're thinking," grin.

"I was thinking on whether or not to ask you if you packed your toothbrush," Gustavo said in a rather sarcastic tone. "Did you?" Lorenzo's smile went away as he slowly backed up into the bathroom to retrieve his toothbrush, all the while nonchalantly whistling the tune of "It's All Over But the Crying."

"This time will be different, huh? You swear, huh?" Gustavo laughed as he said this, but it was a bittersweet laugh, and Lorenzo replied with a bittersweet chuckle.

"Hey, it's the thought that counts, right?"

"In this case, not really."

"Oh..." Lorenzo exited the bathroom, zipping up the side pocket of his suitcase, looking more happy in his attempt to make a sad face. His quivering lip looked more like he was trying to stifle a laugh. Nonetheless, both him and his father shared a brief chuckle before opening the door to the apartment.

"Let's go." Gustavo said as he exited the apartment, motioning his hand for Lorenzo to come forward. Lorenzo did as he was told, walking out the door and grabbing the knob to close it, but not before taking one last look at everything inside; the torn couch, the cheap TV, the old stove, and even the dark hallway. It was all stuff he knew he would never see again.

"Goodbye." Lorenzo said, shutting the door on the last four months he'd had with his father.

It was 8:27 a.m.


	2. Arrival

**DISCLAIMER**

 **Well slap my ass and call me Kim, I uploaded another chapter! I understand if this is not of the best quality, but you would not believe the amount of rewrites this had to go through. There was going to be this whole thing with beef jerky, but then I thought to myself… there's really no fucking point to this. Cue the rewrite! Anyways, enjoy whatever I give you. Cherish it like it's a last meal before execution. Until next time.**

CHAPTER 2: ARRIVAL

It didn't take long for the two to get to the Gun Hill Road Station. Gustavo kept track of the time all the way there while Lorenzo was preoccupied with his radio and headphones. _It took twelve minutes._ Gustavo thought. _We missed the train… good. I can wait for the next one._ His thoughts kept getting interrupted by Lorenzo's drumming on the suitcase. _Eh, let him be in his own little world for a while. It'll be a few hours before we get to Albany anyway. May as well let him relax for now. I'll talk to him about it along the way._

 _Ohh, well, I'm the type of guy who will never settle down_

 _Where pretty girls are, well, you know that I'm around_

 _I kiss 'em, and I love 'em, 'cause to me they're all the same_

 _I hug 'em, and I squeeze 'em; they don't even know my name_

 _They call me "The Wanderer"_

 _Yeah, the Wanderer_

 _I roam around, around, around, around_

Easily one of Lorenzo's favorite songs of all time, and it just happened to pop up when he needed it most. _Don't think about it._ Lorenzo thought. _We missed the train… that's a good thing. This whole thing is eating him up, I know it. Just don't bring it up on the way. Who knows how long it'll be until we get to Albany? Don't bring it up. Hell, don't even think about it. Just… keep going with the beat._

… _I'll tear open my shirt, and I show her Rosie on my chest_

' _Cause I'm a wanderer_

 _Yeah, a wanderer_

 _I roam around, around, around, around_

"What're you listening to there, bud?" Gustavo asked, poking his son's shoulder lightly.

"Sorry," Lorenzo said, pulling the headphones off his ears. "What'd you say?"

"I asked what were you listening to."

"Oh, uh, I'm listening to 'The Wanderer.'"

"'The Wanderer?' Has music changed at all over the years? I was listening to that when _I_ was a kid."

"I mean, I know it's old, but it's still a good song."

"I didn't deny that. I used to love that song, but I never got the chance to listen to it."

"Why not?"

"Eh, life got in the way of it." Gustavo said, patting Lorenzo's head, messing his hair up into a ratty mess.

"I take it I'm life?" Lorenzo asked, jokingly.

"You know, if you're this smart and perceptive, how come you got an F in science?"

"Ah, that is a question for another day, Dad." Lorenzo said, waving his finger as he placed his headphones over his ears.

"Yeah… another day, bud." Gustavo said, softly.

 _Fucking reality…_ Gustavo thought. _You just had to come and fuck everything up, didn't you? Couldn't let me be happy for more than two minutes?!_

It hadn't been long before another train was starting to roll into the station. The duo had jumped out of their seats and pushed on towards a line leading to a row of turnstiles. People were moving too slow, and while Gustavo didn't want to lose Lorenzo faster than necessary, he also didn't want to wait another silence-filled ten minutes for another train to roll in.

"Okay bud," Gustavo said, crouching down and whispering into Lorenzo's ear. "We can't wait for all these people to pass. The train will be gone by then. So, I'm gonna need you to give me your suitcase."

"Why?" Lorenzo asked, whispering at the same volume. "What're you gonna do?"

"It's not what _I'm_ gonna do. It's what _we're_ gonna do." A smile that would embarrass the Cheshire Cat grew on Gustavo's face, while Lorenzo just continued to raise his right eyebrow in confusion.

"What do you mean? What're we doing?"

"Look to the side of the thing." Gustavo said, motioning his head to the right. There, Lorenzo saw nothing but a ticket machine and a locked door with a gap at the top. "That hole looks like it can fit us, and then we book it to the train."

"But what about the cop over there?" Lorenzo said, pointing at the officer on the other side of the turnstiles.

"He's a pudgy bastard. No way in Hell is he gonna catch us if we book it. Now, I'm gonna put you over and I'll throw you your suitcase through the gap. Then, I want you to run as fast as you can to the train. Got it?"

"Yeah, got it. What about you?"

"I have hands and legs and I know how to climb a relatively by fence."

"Right… Stupid question."

"Nah, not stupid. You just care, that's all."

 _Bing-bong!_ "The next train to arrive at the station will be the 8:50 to Pelham Parkway. " _Shit,_ Gustavo thought. _Time to go._ "For your safety, please back away from the edge of the platform until the train has come to a complete stop. Thank you."

"You ready to go?" Gustavo asked, placing his hands on Lorenzo's shoulders.

"Yeah," Lorenzo said in calm, but nervous tone. "Let's do this."

"Alright, give me your bag." Lorenzo gave Gustavo his suitcase as the two walked out of line and off to the side.

The gate towered at a height of at least eight feet, almost two feet above Gustavo's head. It wasn't enough for him to reach on his own, but enough to hoist Lorenzo over. He looked down at Lorenzo, who gave his father a nervous grin.

"Nervous?" Gustavo asked, smiling.

"A little bit." Lorenzo replied. "What if we get caught?"

"Well, that's one more day with you then. Now climb on up."

Gustavo crouched down to allow Lorenzo to climb up on his shoulders. Lorenzo did as his father told him, and quickly hopped up on his father's shoulders.

"Grab my hands," Gustavo said, raising his hands to his son's shins. Again, Lorenzo did as he was told and grabbed his father's hands as Gustavo shot straight up, the force propelling Lorenzo into the gap between the top of the gate and the ceiling of the station. His shirt caught on the top of the gate, dangling half his body over one side and his legs on the other. The officer on the other side quickly took notice to this and began walking towards Lorenzo.

"Hey kid!" The cop shouted. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?!" Gustavo's immediate response was to push Lorenzo's legs over the gate, dropping Lorenzo to the ground while simultaneously tearing a small portion of his shirt off, exposing the lower half of his sides to the cop.

"You know what to do!" Gustavo shouted through the gate. Lorenzo proceeded to stand up from the floor and started sprinting away from the cop towards the platform and through the dozens of people in front of him.

"Hey!" The cop shouted, turning his direction and running towards Lorenzo, but not before Gustavo tossed the suitcase through the gap, slamming against the cop's head with a _thud!_ and knocking him down to the concrete.

The suitcase was quickly followed by Gustavo, who leaped up, grabbing at the top of the gate, and pulled himself over through the gap. Landing on his knees and elbows as the cop was still struggling to recover from the blow, he quickly crawled to Lorenzo's suitcase. Bear-hugging the case at its sides, Gustavo bolted in the same direction as his son, plowing through people in the way and knocking them on to the floor.

The cop began to recover, slowly getting up off the ground and, using his hands, launched himself forward like an Olympic runner at the sound of the starting shot. His relatively large body squeezed through the crowd of disgruntled and grounded people as he gave chase to the father-son duo.

"Lorenzo!" Gustavo shouted through the crowd, still hugging the suitcase. "Lorenzo!"

"Dad?!" _Dammit boy,_ Gustavo thought. _Where are you?_ "Dad! Where are you?"

"I'm coming! Where're you at?"

As Gustavo was looking up above the people in front of him, he smashed right into a kid below him, slamming them both to the ground with a huge _thud!_ Lorenzo's suitcase cushioned Gustavo's chest, but at the same time, knocked the air out of him, leaving him gasping sparsely while looking to see who he had just hit… and instinctively apologize to.

"Oh my god!" Gustavo said, albeit in a voice rather hoarse. "I am so sorry! I didn't see—" Gustavo immediately shut up, realizing he had just smashed into the son he was searching for.

"Dad! It's okay, I'm fine." Lorenzo said, rubbing the back of his head that had smashed to the ground.

"Are you hurt?" Gustavo asked, reaching forward to hug his son and look over his head.

"No, I feel fine. The back of my head just feels a little sore is all." Gustavo continued to look him over, despite Lorenzo stating he was fine.

"You feel dizzy at all? Any bumps or bleeding?"

"Dad…" Lorenzo said, taking his father's hands off of his face. "I'm fine. Okay? I'm okay." Lorenzo then proceeded to stand up at the same time as his father, with Gustavo grabbing the suitcase off of the floor. As he did that, Lorenzo pushed his dad forward in a panicked movement.

"What the hell are you—?!" Gustavo asked, surprised, only to realize the cop from before was still chasing after them. The sound of a train beginning to screech on the tracks garnered their attention quick enough to notice it had arrived and was ready to take them to the next stop.

 _Bing-bong!_ "The 8:50 to Pelham Parkway has arrived at the station. Please wait until the doors are open before moving forward. Thank you." _Halle-fucking-lujah!_ Gustavo thought as he and Lorenzo booked it through the crowds of people as the door opened. Forcing their way through everyone, the father-son duo managed to bum rush into the subway car first, but at the same time as the people moving out of the car. Some gave them looks of frustration, and others of relief at the fact they didn't have to deal with those two. Nonetheless, the two walked down the corridor, eventually finding a set of two seats to finally rest upon as others gazed upon them with confusion. Lorenzo took the interior seat, next to the window, while Gustavo took the seat closest to the corridor, moving Lorenzo's suitcase out of the way of oncoming passengers trying to get through, and pushing it more towards the feet of his son.

"That was awesome!" Lorenzo exclaimed to his father in a sort of whisper-yell.

"I know!" Gustavo said quietly, attempting to match Lorenzo's excitement towards the events of the last minute. "Hopefully, it'll be the last time you ever have to run from the cops."

"What about you?"

"Eh, I might do it one or two more times in the future." Gustavo managed to squeeze out a long chuckle from his son, smiling as Lorenzo's contagious laughter eventually spread to him. The constant barrage of his son's laughter was enough to bring any man down to their knees and giggle.

 _Bing-bong!_ "Now departing to Pelham Parkway."

It was 8:51 a.m.


	3. Chivalry

**DISCLAIMER**

 **Remember when I said people around just can't seem to stop dying? Well, I was unexpectedly whisked away outside the country for a beautiful service, so my apologies for this being a little bit late. Then again, better late than never, right? Until next time.**

CHAPTER 3: CHIVALRY

At the sound of this announcement, the doors closed quickly. Anyone with their hand in the way most likely got it amputated coming in. The screeching of the wheels began once more as Lorenzo looked out the window to see the cop chasing them, looking on with a face of frustration at the fact that he got outran by an 11-year-old and his dad.

"Now we just gotta wait a little bit," Gustavo said. "If you want, you could put on your headphones and start listening to something."

"Nah, I'm good," Lorenzo replied, changing the position of his transistor radio in his pocket. "How long until the next stop?"

"Pelham Parkway's about two minutes away, but we're stopping at East 180."

"Oh, okay."

Lorenzo proceeded to look out the window at the scenery of brick wall quickly zipping by as the train sped off. He tapped the radio in his pocket, but didn't bother trying to take it out. He didn't want to cut his dad off completely, but the two hadn't talked for a solid minute. In fact, the only sound within the car was the static coming from a radio at the center of the car. Everyone had been absolutely silent. There was no conversation taking place or any sort of music playing; just static. Lorenzo felt a little disturbed at the silence, but the thought didn't stay for too long.

Gustavo, on the other hand, hid his nervousness well. His face was that of stone; unmoving and solid, but that did nothing inside his head. _I fucking hate this,_ Gustavo thought. _I should've told him before we got on the train. Why didn't you do it, you fucking idiot?!_ He mentally palmed his face, thinking how the circumstances could have been right for him to say, "Lorenzo, the moment you go to your mother's, I may never see you again." _What if I don't do it?_ The thought of just going back had crossed Gustavo's mind, but he knew he would get into even deeper shit if he backed out of their legal agreement.

 _What if I just bring him there and tell her to fuck off?_ Gustavo chuckled at the thought of telling Mari to do so. Hopefully, Sherry would be there, too. He would simultaneously tell them both to fuck off and then just be off on his way. However, another thought crossed his mind in response to the previous. _What are you, fourteen? You're a grown man. You're thirty-five. You went to college. You raised a son to be a good, honest, mature person. You raised him to see you as a role model. Take it like a fucking man. Face the fucking truth._

 _You may never see your son again after this._

 _Never._

 _You can't avoid the inevitable any longer, and you can't keep believing a lie you know is a lie._

… _Fuck._

Gustavo began to feel tears welling up in his eyes again. He checked to see if Lorenzo or anyone else had been looking. _Nope,_ Gustavo thought. _You're in the clear. Wipe yourself down. Make it seem like you were yawning._ He went stone faced once more, quickly taking his hands and brushing them against his eyes vigorously. They eyelids felt stretched out at this point, he had rubbed them so much. He then proceeded to feign a yawn, clenching his eyelids, stretching his hands in the air, even adding in a moan to try and sell it. He used his fists to wipe away the tears, hoping Lorenzo bought the ace. It would've worked, had it not been for Lorenzo looking at the reflection in the window.

Suddenly, silence wasn't the problem anymore.

 _You should talk to him at some point. This whole thing's eating him up! You need to let him know you still love him._

 _No! That'll just make it worse. The only thing you need to do is sit down, shut up, and look out the window until he talks to you._

 _What if he never does?_

Lorenzo hated arguing with himself. It always ended with him getting upset with himself over what he chose, or forgetting what he was thinking about in the first place. The last time this happened, it was when he decided to go with his father instead of staying with his mom. Of course, that was the only time he didn't get upset with the result. Odds are he would have had more arguments with himself if he stayed with his mother.

 _Just wait. He raised you to be patient. So be patient. Besides, you have a bunch of stops before East 180._

 _How many stops?_

 _What do I look like, a conductor? Ask Dad. Wait—_

"Hey, Dad?" Lorenzo said, getting his father's attention.

"Yeah?" Gustavo asked, slightly surprised at the sudden sound of Lorenzo's voice within the noiseless car.

"How many stops until we get to East 180?"

"Three stops. It's only five minutes from now, and then we switch lines."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh… hold on…" Gustavo began jerking his head around, looking at the walls surrounding him, until he noticed a huge map of the subway system above the radio from earlier. "Ah! There we go." Lorenzo then proceeded to turn around in order to see what his dad was looking at.

"What is it?"

"See the map?"

"Yeah."

"We're on the Lexington Avenue Line; the dark green one. We're on that line up there at the top." Gustavo pointed at the lines in question, slowly guiding Lorenzo through it all. "You see which one I mean?"

"Yeah," Lorenzo replied. "I see which one."

"You see the point where it says, 'E. 180 Street?'"

"I think so, yeah."

"It's also connected to the Seventh Avenue Line; the red one. There, we'll take a train to 241 Street, get off, and get a cab. That sound like a plan?"

"Unless I have an escape plan off this subway and to the outside world, I think that's the only plan." The duo chuckled at the statement, cracking brief smiles and forgetting their thoughts for just a moment.

"Good god, what did I raise?" Gustavo said, laughing and placing his hand on his forehead.

"A comedian? A genius? A comedic genius?" Lorenzo responded, smiling and raising his face closer to Gustavo's with every face.

Gustavo turned to face his son, and nearly burst out laughing at the sight of him. The expression he made was enough to bring him to tears. "Sure… something like that."

 _Screeeeech!_ The train began to brake as it arrived at Pelham Parkway. The force caused everyone aboard the car to lurch forward. Lorenzo grabbed the seat, while Gustavo instinctively grabbed the pole next to him and Lorenzo's arm.

 _Bing-bong!_ "The 8:53 to Morris Park has arrived at the station." The doors opened, allowing floods of people to both enter and exit. Among them was an assumedly pregnant woman and her husband, holding her bags. Gustavo noticed this, and patted Lorenzo on the shoulder.

"Come on," Gustavo said. "Let's be some chivalrous bastards."

"What does that mean?" Lorenzo asked, completely confused at the term, "chivalrous."

"Just follow my lead, alright?" Gustavo proceeded to get out of his seat, followed by Lorenzo. The couple saw this as they were coming down the aisle, and Gustavo gestured for them to take the seats.

"Please." Gustavo insisted, as the woman and her husband were coming down and gave them a look that said, "Thank you."

The father-son duo stood up, holding on to the pole as the couple adjusted themselves into the seat, with the wife closest to the window and the husband next to the corridor, placing the bags on his lap.

"Oh," The pregnant woman said. "Is this yours?" She then pointed at Lorenzo's suitcase underneath the seat, which he completely forgot about.

"Oh, yeah!" Lorenzo said, with a tinge of regret. "Sorry, I meant to grab that."

"No, it's fine." The husband said, grabbing the suitcase from beneath his wife and handing it to Gustavo.

"Thanks." Lorenzo replied.

Lorenzo then looked at his father, still partially confused at what he meant by being,

"chivalrous bastards." He only noticed the gears turning within his head, though. _What're you thinking?_ Lorenzo thought.

 _Should I ask if she's pregnant?_ Gustavo thought. _You already offered the seat. It would be stupid to not ask. Then again, do I want to get punched by a really buff guy in a confined space in front of my son? Hmm… Fuck it._

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking," Gustavo began, very, **very** hesitantly towards the couple. "How far along are you guys?"

"Seven months." The woman said. _Thank fuck…_

"Congratulations." Gustavo replied. "First born?"

"Yeah," The husband said. "Got any tips for us?"

"Oh, uh…" Gustavo was caught off-guard. Not many people went to him for advice on anything. He was not the guy to go to in terms of that. "In terms of the rest of trimester or giving birth?"

"Anything helps, really." The husband said. _Fuck._

 _Bing-bong!_ "Now departing to Morris Park." The doors shut just as quickly as before. The subway sped off forward, with the momentum pushing Gustavo and Lorenzo back slightly.

"Well, what I did when my wife had my son, I just stayed stone faced the whole time. Don't get me wrong, I was scared as all hell the moment I heard she was going into labor. You just need to stay calm for her. The last thing she'll need at that moment is for you to panic."

"Stay calm. If I can't, look calm." The husband said.

"That's pretty much it." Gustavo said, chuckling. "I also got some advice for your… wife?"

"Yeah, that's me." The wife said. _Two for two._ "What advice you got for me?"

"You take Lamaze classes yet?"

"Yeah, for about a week. Why?"

"Sorry to say, you wasted your money."

"Wait, what?" The wife conveyed a look of confusion and anger at once.

"Everyone gets through birth their own way. My wife and I paid for Lamaze classes, but when the time came, none of it came to mind. It may have been us, but the breathing technique is worth absolutely nothing."

"You've gotta be kidding me…" The wife sighed and sat back in the seat, a hint of frustration in her voice.

"Unfortunately, I'm not. My wife told me she just focused all the pain on squeezing my hand until that was all she felt."

"So your wife almost broke your hand?" The wife asked, smiling at the thought.

"Oh, you would not believe it." Gustavo laughed. "It's all worth it in the end, though. Little bundle of joy, raise em' to be the best they can."

"I think the hardest part is deciding what we're gonna name it." The wife said.

"You don't know if it's a boy or a girl?" Lorenzo asked from the side.

"No," The husband replied. "We wanted a surprise, but we're struggling to come up with a name. For a boy, I was thinking Kenny, but I'm drawing a blank on a girl."

"And I was thinking Keith for a boy, and Kelly for a girl." The wife said.

"I'm sensing a 'K' theme here." Gustavo said, gesturing toward the couple.

"Oh, yeah." The wife said. "We never met formally. I'm Kerri Pennington, and this is my husband, Kyle."

"How do you do?" Kyle said, extending his hand towards Gustavo.

"Good," Gustavo said, shaking Kyle's hand. "Gustavo Cantillo, and this is my son, Lorenzo."

"Hi," Lorenzo said, extending his hand to shake Kyle's.

"Back to the name thing," Gustavo continued. "I don't think your kid should have a 'K' for their first initial."

"Why not?" Kyle asked.

"Because you'd be a white family whose first initials are K, K, K." Gustavo said, pointing at Kyle, Kerri, and Kerri's bump respectively. "I don't know if you knew, but someone else would've pointed it out after the matter, and that's not a good thing to point out."

"Oh damn," Kyle said. "I didn't even notice that."

"Well, what now," Kerri asked, starting to sound a little panicked. "We had this whole plan and now this thing ruins it."

"Not a problem," Kyle said, holding Kerri's right hand. "We can think of new names. We have a couple months to go, remember?"

"If you want, we could give you some ideas," Lorenzo said, shrugging his shoulders towards the couple. "We could tell you what sounds good from an outsider's opinion."

"Thanks for the offer," Kyle said. "But I think we'll handle the naming."

"Can I at least say what I got, just to see if you like it?" Lorenzo asked, quizzically. Gustavo then nudged Lorenzo's shoulder as his little signal to tell him to stop insisting.

"I mean," Kerri began, craning her head towards Lorenzo. "It couldn't hurt. What d'you got, kid?"

"I was thinking, for a boy, Norman, and for a girl, Savannah."

"Those actually aren't too bad," Kyle said in a sort of shocked tone. "Where'd those come from?"

"Well, I got Norman from the artist, Norman Rockwell. You heard of him?"

"He's the one that painted that clock thing, right?" Kyle asked.

"No, that was Dalí. Rockwell was the one who painted the photorealistic stuff."

"Oh…" _I still don't know who the hell he's talking about,_ Kyle thought. "Now why Savannah?"

"I just always liked the name," Lorenzo responded, matter-of-factly. "I don't know why, but I do."

 _Screeeeech!_ The train began to brake again, forcing everyone to lurch forward. Gustavo wrapped his arm around Lorenzo's shoulder, while Kyle grabbed the pole and Kerri's belly to push back into the seat.

 _Bing-bong!_ "The 8:55 to East 180 Street has arrived at the station." Open doors; floods in and out, but Gustavo and Lorenzo hadn't changed their position at all.

"What about you, Gustavo?" Kerri asked. "We heard from your son, but what about you?"

"Oh, I don't know," Gustavo said, unsure of what to say next. "I'm not the guy for names, just sayin'."

"Who knows?" Kyle said, shrugging his shoulders. "You may have some gold. Just gotta mine it out." _Damn, that's analogous,_ Gustavo thought.

"Uh, um…" _Pick the first thing that comes to mind._ "Malcolm and Chloe. They're the first things that came to mind."

"No, that's fine." Kerri said. "Those are actually pretty good, too."

"Ok, cool." Gustavo said.

The amputation doors closed once more, and the train began to move forward, pushing Gustavo and Lorenzo back from the force. No one had spoken for a solid thirty seconds; the only sound, once more, was the static from the radio below the map.

"So, where're you guys headed off to?" Kyle asked, breaking the brief silence.

"Albany," Gustavo replied. "We're getting off at the next stop."

"Hey, so are we!" Kyle said in an excited tone, smiling. "The next stop thing, not Albany."

"We're headin' up to Buffalo." Kerri stated, adjusting herself in her seat as to sit up straight. "Came down to visit Kyle's brother for the weekend and now we're on our way back. I'm just glad we're on our way out."

"Oh come on," Kyle said. "Carl isn't that bad."

"Why?" Lorenzo asked from behind his father's leg. "What's wrong with him?"

"It's not him," Kerri said. "It's his kids. They're the most obnoxious brats I've ever met."

"How so?" Gustavo asked.

"They're just so… loud."

"Define loud."

"Not like a yelling type of loud. More of an… obnoxious teenager loud."

"Doesn't know when their music's too loud in their headphones?" Lorenzo asked from the sidelines. Gustavo shot him a glare, saying that he shouldn't comment like that. Lorenzo replied with a face of calm confusion. "What? It happens all the time in school; eighth graders'll just have headphones on, listening to their radios in the middle of the hallway."

"You're not part of them, right?" Gustavo asked, quizzically.

"No! I never bring my radio to school! I'm not stupid enough to do that."

"That's good." Gustavo replied, turning his head back to face Kerri. His mouth opened up, but he didn't have the words to continue their conversation. "What were we talking about again?"

"My obnoxious nephews." Kerri said, matter-of-factly.

"Ah, yes. Well, are they like what Lorenzo said?"

"Yes, minus the headphones part."

"They just have their radios out at the table, and Carl doesn't do anything about it?"

"If I'm gonna be honest," Kyle said, chiming into the conversation. "Carl isn't even there half the time. He couldn't control his kids when they were younger and now they're a couple of obnoxious brats. Except Caleb."

"Yeah, but Caleb's just silent." Kerri said. "I get that he's shy, but he should at least talk to us a little bit."

"How old is Caleb?" Gustavo asked.

"About ten-years-old." Kyle stated. "You'd expect a kid to be talking their head off, but Caleb is just straight up silent."

"Pin drop silent?"

"Breathing silent. He just doesn't talk."

"What the hell is with Carl's wife then?"

"She divorced him about two years ago. Carl got custody of the kids, but the bitch took the money."

"Speaking of wives," Kerri said. "You never told us about yours, Gustavo. Where's your wife?"

"Lorenzo and I are actually on our way to see her now." Gustavo replied. "We got separated a few months ago and now we're going to visit." _You're a good bullshitter,_ Gustavo thought. _You know it's not a fucking visit, but they don't… and they don't need to._

"Sorry to hear that, man." Kyle said, apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. We're working things out." _You're a_ _ **damn**_ _good liar!_

"Good to know."

 _Screeeech!_ The same thing happened once more; the braking of the train, the momentum of the train pushing everyone forward, and Gustavo and Kyle's instinctive places to grab the people they care for most.

 _Bing-bong!_ "The 8:57 to East Tremont Avenue has arrived at the station." Cue the open doors once more, only this time, a handful of people got in, leaving the group of four to hurry up out of the car.

"That would be our cue to get the hell out of here." Gustavo said, guiding Lorenzo to the door right of the group.

"Hey, we'll join you in a sec," Kyle said, shuffling out of his seat and grabbing Kerri's right hand to help her out. "Hold the door for us!"

As Gustavo and Lorenzo made it to the door, Gustavo placed Lorenzo's suitcase in the path of the amputation doors, preventing them from closing as Kyle and Kerri grabbed their bearings and headed towards the door. As they reached it, the couple thanked Gustavo for holding open the door, and the four headed off into the sea of people in front of them.

It was 8:57 a.m.


End file.
